As ever, the ground rules: my 30-team rankings are only for offseason moves, the things teams have done since they last played a game. It is not a predicted order of finish for next season; I do not expect Golden State to have a better record than Orlando.

It is as much art as science, weighing the impact both of the Draft and free agency, but also assessing whether teams got value in their free-agent signings. Overpaying the right player is as much a sin as signing the wrong player. New coaches, new GMs, new owners and new arenas are also signficant factors in judging a team's summer success, for a good coach can coax some more wins out of a roster, and a new building can generate the kind of revenue necessary to let a team be aggressive in pursuing free agents and trades.

THE KEY MAN: DeMar DeRozan.
The second-year guard has to develop rapidly with Bosh gone. He had a solid rookie season (65 starts, .498 FG percentage), but the Raptors need to give Andrea Bargnani some help, and they could use another star along the lines of Vince Carter or Tracy McGrady to keep what fan interest the Maple Leafs don't already have.

THE SKINNY: Well, that didn't end great. Toronto GM Bryan Colangelo gambled that he could find a sign-and-trade for Bosh that would bring some players back, but the best he could do is a trade exception that might be able to land someone in the next year. Until then the Raptors don't have much to hang their hats on. Davis has potential, but it will take a couple of years; Barbosa was once one of the league's fastest and fiercest with the ball, but injuries have slowed him down. And, let's just say there aren't many people around the league who think Johnson is worth $6.5 million a season. He, and Toronto, have to prove a lot of people wrong.

Its hard to say as a huge Raps fan, but its going to be a hurtin year my beloved team. There is loads of potential within this club, but we're just too young at this stage to compete. Is Amir worth the money? I think so. Its definately a gamble, but I'm comfortable with BC's IQ as he has done a good job at realizing potential with other players. If the Raps can compete night in and night out, and maintain a high level of outlook, and we miss the playoffs; I would be content knowing our young guys went a whole season without losing faith, and transitioned this into another highly motivated summer. This way we will get a good draft pick to go along with our other 2 we picked up this offseason to inject into our potent, young core. This isn't to say I don't want them to miss the playoffs, as I think that would be much more beneficial to the young minds, but this is my realistic, optimistic outlook.

Mon Jul 26th, 2010, 02:11 PM

CalgaryRapsFan

I think this evaluation is a little unfair for the Raptors, at least with regards to our ranking within the league, for several reasons. First, I doubt BC is done tinkering with the roster, so it's likely too early to fairly judge the net impact of the Raptors' entire offseason. Second, it's always hard to compare moves with the immediate future in mind vs moves with the longer-term future in mind; the flexibility (this season and especially the next 2-4 seasons) gained by acquiring the $14.5M trade exception for Bosh and trading away Turkoglu's contract (and hopefully Calderon's), won't prove its true value until we see what BC does with it over the next several seasons.

Losing Bosh was always destined to overshadow just about any other moves BC could/did/will pull off this offseason, but the true net impact of all the moves - and the resulting subsequent moves over the next several seasons - will not get to be fairly measured for a few years. I personally think we will wind up looking back on this summer very favorably, when all is said and done.

Mon Jul 26th, 2010, 02:18 PM

LBF

i'm not one to care about money but when i know that you just over paid for the sake of overpaying that's stupid. he wanted to come back to toronto he was egtting offered 25-30 million for 5 yrs according to him. so,we give him 4 million more than the top offer on the table and nobody even dares to go higher i mean it was a competition between toronto and toronto and they lost.

Mon Jul 26th, 2010, 03:04 PM

SirChillyMost

NBA.com's David Aldridge Rate The NBA: Rap's 24th Best Team(As Is)

DA is on point with TO. Unless BC gets a star player w/ the Bosh TPE like Iggy, it could be a very long losing season. Plus, hopefully BC trades Jose for some decent talent in return. Still some moves to be made.

Mon Jul 26th, 2010, 03:26 PM

Raptor4Ever

I have a feeling we are going to start this season with $27 million invested in the PG psotion and use the excuses like:

1) Barbosa and Jack can play while we all know that they are both huge liability on that position.

2) We are going to play a 3 guard , fast pace style while we all know that we do not have the talent to do so and if we even did, this system has proved to be failure.

Looong Season my friends.

Mon Jul 26th, 2010, 04:37 PM

Bendit

This overpaying of Amir J. is starting to get old. Let it be already. So he got an xtra mill. per on his deal...and not immediately. If he plays to his stats over 25-30 mins per game everyone is going to say "that was an astute signing". In the context of the cap the extras are not that meaningful when spread out. If there was a contract to be queazy about it's Bargnani's...and thats only if he flubs the opportunity entirely. We have another 3 months before the season...lots can happen...many of the moves last year were surprises.

Mon Jul 26th, 2010, 04:57 PM

Apollo

If he plays to his current stats he'll foul out after 25 minutes.

Mon Jul 26th, 2010, 06:31 PM

Bendit

Yer got me!

ps...hope he improves in that dept.

Mon Jul 26th, 2010, 06:53 PM

Nick

Their not just going to overpay for the sake of overpaying, obviously there's logic behind this. It seems like a murky deal because espn and all the other "experts" say that the Raps overpaid him, however the "experts" are the worst in terms of biased criticism. The Raps could win a championship and Stephen A. Smith would still say "THE RAPTORS JUST DON'T GET IT, THEY ARE PLAYING BASKETBALL IN AN EMBARASSING FASHION, SHAME ON YOU IF YOUR CANADIAN." Toronto is a very hard town to attract marquee FA's. With Bosh now gone, BC has decided to build within. He obviouly thinks Amir could be a cornerstone, therefore his decision to give him the dollar he did is to show him that he is worth that much in Toronto, and when his contract runs up, and he is potentially an all-star, he will show the same gratitude back to the city that hails him.

Mon Jul 26th, 2010, 09:50 PM

Apollo

There is logic behind every bad contract in the league. We are talking about a billion dollar business ran by some of the richest most successful professionals in the world. Logic is part of the thought process. The decision comes after. What if the logic is flawed? Maybe that's when you sign a guy like Joe Johnson for $123M or Rudy Gay for $84M or...*Gulp*... Hedo Turkoglu for $52M. Maybe Amir for $34M? Time will tell.

Mon Jul 26th, 2010, 10:02 PM

grindhouse

BC is seening something we who are behind those close doors can see. IMO I think he is showing with money that hard work is appreciate here in Toronto. If I was gm and saw that Amir is the core to these young guys off the court I meant have done the same thing.

Tue Jul 27th, 2010, 12:23 AM

DoNDaDDa

I agree that amir may be a bit overpaid but there wont be another guy who will bust his ass more for that money then amir! its a shame more players dont have that type of passion for the game